Dead Gladiator

[AmosMoses01]

This got me curious so I just went and unplugged the aux battery to see how my gladiator would respond. Sure enough the dash lights up like a Christmas tree and I can’t get it out of the driveway. This feels like a pretty garbage design especially for a vehicle I’d thought was fairly rugged. Guess I’ll add a lawnmower battery to the trail bag. Also @OP, I disabled ESS with the taser and it does not fix this issue. Still throws a fit and refuses to move.

Quick edit: jumper cables from the small battery leads to the main battery seems to fix the issue.

Is yours gas or diesel?

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[Mr._Bill]

Does the aux battery do anything other than ess?

The primary purpose of the ESS battery is to keep the computers stable during ESS events. If it fails, the computers malfunction, and it causes other issues that don't appear related. The ESS system is always running, the Off button just keeps it from turning the engine off when stopped.

 

[Mr._Bill]

All right class, today I learned that I will be buying a taser and deleting the ESS. The root of all of my problems was a dead auxiliary battery.!? Even though the main battery was perfectly fine the dead lawnmower battery below it disabled my truck and left me stranded. Off to buy a taser to remove the ESS function….

The ESS system cannot be removed, deactivated, or disabled. The Tazer, and other devices, just keep it from turning the engine off by telling it the dash button is in the Off position all the time.

 

[khockey02]

Is yours gas or diesel?

Mine is the gas 3.6

 

[Jefe1018]

This got me curious so I just went and unplugged the aux battery to see how my gladiator would respond. Sure enough the dash lights up like a Christmas tree and I can’t get it out of the driveway. This feels like a pretty garbage design especially for a vehicle I’d thought was fairly rugged. Guess I’ll add a lawnmower battery to the trail bag. Also @OP, I disabled ESS with the taser and it does not fix this issue. Still throws a fit and refuses to move.

Quick edit: jumper cables from the small battery leads to the main battery seems to fix the issue.

Wow… a little disheartening design indeed.

 

[sharpsicle]

I'm confused why you are surprised that disconnecting a part of the electrical system causes electrical problems. Seems logical to me. If you want the aux battery gone, you can't just unhook it, you have to bypass it.

 

[AmosMoses01]

I'm confused why you are surprised that disconnecting a part of the electrical system causes electrical problems. Seems logical to me. If you want the aux battery gone, you can't just unhook it, you have to bypass it.

Fair point, though I have to admit I didn't mentally map the ESS battery into "critical path" to the point where OP's situation had him. In Central Texas where I live, it isn't surprising to see OEM batteries dying in 3 years due to the heat. I'm going definitely going to have to put some thought into having a mitigation plan for the ESS battery going out, as well as realizing that the failure symptoms won't be as obvious as symptions of a "normal dead battery."

 

[sharpsicle]

I would read up on the multitude of threads here regarding the aux battery and its symptoms and replacement if you are worried about what it looks like before making any decisions or carrying around extra batteries for little purpose. This is the first aux battery failure I've seen that has left the vehicle stranded. It usually alerts you that the system needs service. This thread should not be your basis for how the truck works; it is an outlier.

 

[khockey02]

I'm confused why you are surprised that disconnecting a part of the electrical system causes electrical problems. Seems logical to me. If you want the aux battery gone, you can't just unhook it, you have to bypass it.

Yeah, fair point. I guess I had always understood the aux battery to be a piggyback that enabled extra features or even a redundant 12v source, but now I see it’s the opposite. Just a little bummed this is an additional point of critical failure and not the cool safety feature I thought it was.

 

[MyRight]

I don't know why, but every time I see this thread on the forum I see Dear Gladiator, like as of you are writing a letter to it.

 

[Wat Dog]

Yeah, fair point. I guess I had always understood the aux battery to be a piggyback that enabled extra features or even a redundant 12v source, but now I see it’s the opposite. Just a little bummed this is an additional point of critical failure and not the cool safety feature I thought it was.

Exactly this.

At a minimum I plan on carrying around a jumper for the positive lead to bypass the aux battery in the event of failure

 

[Painkillerspe]

They usually replace the main battery when they need to replace the aux. The aux can take the main battery out with it when it goes bad.

Had to have my aux battery replaced at 600 miles. They did not replace my main battery

 

[Casique]

I wonder if a "better" aux battery exist out there, like a lithium battery?

 

[Mr._Bill]

I wonder if a "better" aux battery exist out there, like a lithium battery?

They do exist, but they are expensive. The lithium battery would also need to have a built in BMS, since the charging system is designed for standard batteries.

 

[dcmdon]

I wonder if a "better" aux battery exist out there, like a lithium battery?

Lithium is ideal for power to weight. Its not ideal for reliability. Good old fashioned lead acid is probably the most reliable.

A lead acid absorbed glass mat (AGM) style battery is impervious to shock and vibration and can last for years.

I had a Panasonic AGM battery in my airplane as the primary battery. It lasted 7 years starting the engine. Which I consider to be pretty fantastic. After that I bought a Powersonic that was supposedly made by Panasonic. It ran for 5 years before I sold the plane and was going strong.

IMHO - an ideal battery is a lead acid AGM battery.

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